


Core Relationship

by agok



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: AU where the Galra aren't terrible, Allura and Lance are Siblings, Altean Lance (Voltron), Galra Keith (Voltron), Galra Pidge (Voltron), Galra Soldier Keith, HUGE misunderstandings, Identity Porn, Insecure Lance, Lance is a prince (like he deserves), Langst, M/M, Protective!Keith, Slow Burn, but also a hot mess, dont worry lance/happiness is always endgame, its gonna get a little wild, klangst, my complete lack of knowledge of Altean time, secret prince, they/them pronouns for Pidge, where shiro is keith's impulse control
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-16
Updated: 2017-03-14
Packaged: 2018-09-24 19:19:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 21,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9781364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/agok/pseuds/agok
Summary: Every four years the Alteans host a giant party called the Core Alliance Celebration in honor of their alliance with the Galra. Prince Lance is ready to meet some new people and relax from his responsibilities for a week, until he meets Keith, a Galra soldier who isn't interested in anything the festivities have to offer.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> okay you guys this is my first Offical Fanfiction, i'm hoping to be kinda regular with updates but we'll see what happens? also, sorry they don't meet in this first chapter i promise some Good Interaction next time.

The week before celebrations of the anniversary of the Core Alliance was actual hell, if you asked Lance. The celebration itself was pretty much the best thing ever, huge events planned out, each day had a theme, super fun in general, especially if you happened to live by the castle. Lance adored it. 

The celebration was based on the the alliance that was formed between the Galra and Altean's long ago that had made both people stronger and more prosperous and blah blah blah. In actuality it was pretty much just an excuse for Altea to throw a week long party and invite an almost absurd amount of Galra into the castle to restrengthen political ties and catch up with old friends. The castle was also opened completely to the public meaning anyone could stroll in a partake in the festivities. Don't get him wrong, Lance didn't have one problem with parties, or more people to flirt with in the castle, but having such a huge festival also meant everyone in the castle went into overdrive the week before. 

Preparing for it meant cleaning every square inch of the castle, and a flurry of cooking down in the kitchens. The actual planning of the events and where the guest Galra where going to stay alone dominated Alfor's schedule, leaving little time for Lance and Allura to peek in and see their father. Which, Lance could understand, planning and preparing for a few extra hundred people living, eating and sleeping in the castle was hard. Really hard. Like low-key abandon your children for a week hard. 

Preparing also, unfortunately, meant having to be fitted for new formal robes because despite being at an age where Lance's growing should have slowed down, he still had shot up and inch or two from the last time the Core Alliance celebrations took place. And the celebrations were more than important enough to warrant new robes. Maybe Allura didn't mind standing around forever, being constricted by a measuring tape and occasionally poked by needles, but Lance did. 

Lance desperately tried to stay still as the necessary adjustments to his robes were made by the royal tailor, and elderly Altean who puttered around his workshop at a steady pace and snapped at Lance whenever he tried to shift. Of course Allura snickering in the background every time it happened didn't help very much either. 

"Prince Lance, please, these are the final adjustments! The celebrations begin tomorrow, if you don't stay still now these are never going to lay right," The tailor squawked indignantly, which only served to make Lance feel more twitchy. But he could do this, he could stand still for five more minutes if it meant not having to come and have to stay still for another couple of years, he could fucking do this. He was second in line to the throne, this was should be no big deal. 

"Are you trying to convince us or yourself?" Allura asked bemused, her eyebrows raised high and her smirk hidden behind a hand. 

Lance startled, "Huh? Did I say that out loud?" Embarrassment colored his voice. The tailor only nodded. 

A few minutes later Lance watched the tailor put in the last pins, marking the fabric delicately. After that Lance was allowed to step off the damn podium as the tailor took off the pieces of his new robes to be assembled later that day, and gave him the ones he came in with. Lance changed quickly, and left even faster.

"So, what do you think father has planned for this years festivities?" Allura asked, as they walked out of the tailor's work space and down one of the many corridors to the castle. 

Lance shrugged, "I don't know, the first day is always the welcome feast but beyond that who knows. You know he always comes up with something new." 

It was late in the evening, which meant they would have to head back their individual rooms soon. Tomorrow would be busy. With the first day of the celebrations came the entire Galra fleet, which also came with meaningless introductions to every even semi-noble Galra, but Lance was good with people. He was just excited to get some new faces in the castle, finally. The maids were starting to get a little annoyed at his flirting. There was only one problem that came with the Core Alliance Celebration, besides new robes.

"Lance, what wrong? You look all upset suddenly," Allura asked, bumping her brother's shoulder with her own. She had an inkling of it, but Lance was sometimes too unpredictable with his moods for Allura to actually know what was going on in his head.

Lance ducked his aforementioned head, avoiding eye contact with Allura. "You don't think father is going to try to set me up with some random noble? Or worse, get me engaged?" He asked, meekly, which was Allura's cue to know Lance wasn't taking the whole royalty-coming-of-age thing very easily. Lance just wasn't meek, period, so this was something that was seriously bothering him.  
"Lance, calm down, father isn't going to make you do anything you don't want to," She assured him, hopefully assuaging his fears. 

Allura hadn't been set up or bound to anyone through a betrothal so it was unlikely that their father would subject Lance to anything like that. Alfor tended to be lax with the general subject of getting heirs, and marrying his kids off, which Allura appreciated to no end. A forced marriage between the Galra and  
Alteans would only lead to festering hate, something that the Core Alliance was too important to risk, Allura hoped her father and the Galra nobles realized that. 

"Lance don't worry, this week is a week of celebration and happiness. I'll make sure father doesn't do anything too strange." Allura tried again, and Lance only gave her a weak smile in return. 

They parted ways there, coming to their rooms. Lance to his room, and Allura to her own respectively. The knot of unease in Lance's stomach only tightening despite his sister's reassurance.

It was easy to take comfort in what she said, but some curling anxiety still lingered about the whole business of betrothal. Lance was coming of age soon, and even though his father hadn't pushed, or even mentioned, marriage, Lance could feel it weighing on him like a ton of bricks.

His father's expectations, the castle's expectations, his people's expectations, even his own expectations were exacerbating his worries and insecurities. He didn't know how Allura did it, being first in the line of succession didn't seem to bother her at all. In fact, she seemed fit to rule at any given moment, unlike Lance who wasn't sure if he could even handle himself. Sure, he talked a big game, but his royal responsibilities, although important, seemed few and far between which only continued to show that no one thought he could possibly rule. 

Plus the whole thing about being second born probably meant being married off for some random alliance. They didn't think he could help here, on his own planet. 

All Lance's insecurities were suddenly tangled together in a giant writhing mass in front of him, and he decided that enough was enough, he could deal with this later. He stripped out of his robes and collapsed onto his bed groaning. Today had been draining, too many thoughts about the future haunted him but he pushed them aside. He barely had enough energy to smudge on some face cream before he was out.

___________________

Keith had been briefed about the first day on Altea extensively, he knew what to expect (a huge ceremony, then a welcoming dinner, then find his room) and he knew what he was expected to do (make sure no one got too unruly, keep his eyes respectfully lowered around Altean royalty, and most importantly keep and eye on Pidge.) There was a limited amount of space in the Altean castle so only a few important Galra nobles, soldiers, ship navigators and engineers were brought along to the Core Alliance Celebration. Keith was one of the soldiers who had been chosen. 

The Alteans were their closest allies so the Galra usually brought soldiers who needed experience, because it was a relatively low stress environment, but it gave new soldiers a chance to practice etiquette on other planets. Keith was fresh from his training, and had been primed with enough knowledge about what was going on the first day he could probably predict the exact second that King Alfor was supposed to sit down on his throne. The rest of the days not so much. The Alteans preferred to keep everyone, even their own people, in suspense for the plans of the coming week. 

Keith was currently on one of the ships headed towards Altea, Pidge sat next to him idly working on their drone, Rover, that they had saved from being decommissioned a couple of months ago. Keith wasn't on duty to be patrolling the ship yet, and Pidge's free hours and his thankfully matched up. 

"So what do you think Altea is like?" Pidge asked, half mumbling as they clipped a wire in Rover. 

Keith shrugged, "I dunno, blue?"

"You would think us, the common citizens, would know more about our closest allies, right?" Pidge contemplated, pausing their work on Rover to look at Keith, "But your answer only solidifies that we have no clue what were going into." 

Keith snorted, and barely resisted rolling his eyes, "I know what Altea is like Pidge, I've just never been there before. And to be fair, the celebration is only every four years, so there's not a lot of opportunity to know." 

Pidge nodded, "Yeah, I guess. But there's about a million rumors about the Core Alliance Celebrations, and we don't really how factual any of that actually is." 

"You've met Alteans before. It's not like they're a foreign species." Keith argued, leaning back completely onto his bunk. 

"Okay sure, but that's one or two only occasionally. We don't know if they change when they're all together or on their home planet." Pidge fired back, setting aside Rover as they got up to check the time. "It almost time for my navigation shift to start, we're only a few hours off from arrival so you should start getting ready," they suggested, closing up Rover's access panel, before striding out of the room. 

Keith sighed and ran a hand through his hair, this would be one of the first times that he would be acting independently without Shiro's guidance since he had become a soldier. Shiro was almost always there to keep Keith in check. But Shiro was back on their planet, so Keith was more than a little nervous, despite how much he had drilled his duties into his head. He knew he had the tendency to be impulsive, which was why, despite how many soldiers acted during this celebration, Keith would probably be heading back to his room right after the welcoming. Shiro was roughly eighty percent of his impulse control, and he heard Altean brews were pretty strong. He desperately didn't want to do something stupid. 

After a little while more of laying on his bunk, Keith finally got up, it was about time that he got dressed in his standard issue suit for the welcoming ceremony, he didn't want to have to rush to get ready in an hour or so when they finally touched down on Altea.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> didn't think i'd get this done a quick as i did but hey, i live for validation and i sat in a park for a half an hour texting and friend and writing this on and off so here we go. every mistake in here is mine, i proof read but not That Well. Just for reference, Hunk is an altean royal guard, pidge is a galra navigator in training and shiro is also galra. just btw

The hall was so lavishly decorated that even Lance was impressed at what the staff had been able to pull off. A long, massive corridor led up to the thrones that he, his father, and Allura were currently seated on, and in a matter minutes the hall would be filled with their guests and it would be time to kick off the feast. Lance was fitted in his new robes, which despite all the strife that went into having them fitted, laid comfortably and Lance had to admit that he looked good. Like, way better than usual. Allura, of course, look equally if not more stunning in her own gown, and their father had broken out his ornamental armor for the occasion. 

The first Galra that entered the hall was Emperor Zarkon, flanked by a few other nobles and a sea of navigators, engineers and soldiers behind him. They filled up the hall quickly, and Lance felt his skin buzz with excitement any worries he had before were outweighed by the knowledge of what was coming this week. Alfor rose to greet the emperor, and Lance took that as his cue to also get to his feet. Lance and Allura hung back a foot as their father and Zarkon exchanged respectful bows, and then did the same when it was their turn to greet the Galra Emperor. 

This was usually the time that their father would make a long speech about how fortunate both civilization were to have this alliance, and once again how it makes both peoples lives easier and more secure, but instead Alfor stepped aside and let Allura take the center spot to address the crowd. 

Lance tried, and failed to mask his surprise when Allura began her own welcoming speech that roused a few cheers from the crowd of Galra. What the holy quiznak was going on? Would he be expected to make a speech? No, they would have told him, right? It made sense what was happening but Lance still couldn't quite wrap his head around it. Allura was stepping up to the throne soon, so her responsibilities would be changing, but still, why did everything have to change so quickly?

"I'm sure all of you are very hungry, so please head into the next hall, and enjoy the feast that we have prepared for you. Let the celebration begin!" Allura exclaimed, beaming at the crowd as her speech came to a close. A hearty cheer rose from the soldiers, navigators and engineers, while the nobles had a much more reserved reaction. A rush of people started for the huge doors that lead to the dining room. As the hall began to empty into the next room, Allura turned to Lance.

"What did you think, Lance? Not too long winded like father's always are right?" Allura asked, her excitement almost palpable. 

Lance nodded, "No, it was, uh, it was great. They seemed to really like you." Lance said, gaining a bit of momentum as he went. It would crush Allura to know that he wasn't as happy or excited about her taking on the welcoming speech, so he quickly plastered a smile on his face. There was no need to ruin the evening with his insecurities. 

"You did awesome, but let's go eat. I'm starving," Lance said, looping her arm with his and tugging her towards the dining hall. 

Soon they were seated at the head of a long table filled with nobles, their father sat to the right of Lance, Emperor Zarkon next to him, and Allura sat on Lance's other side. Across the room, several more long tables stretched down the hall, filled to the brim with the Galra who weren't important enough to be seated at the table for nobility. 

They were loud and rowdy, and Lance felt the tug to go join them, but soon he was distracted by the normal introductions of nobles that happened at these types of meals, and the not so subtle hints at engagement. 

The first course rushed by in haze of Altean delicacies and congratulations to Allura. Lance felt his chest tighten each time, and wished Hunk, or at least Coran was seated next to him instead of his father and sister. 

Lance figured that the problems of royalty and the problems of castle guards probably didn't have a lot of intersection, but Hunk would at least try to be sympathetic, where as Allura would suggest solutions and his father would probably offer Lance some cryptic advice. It's not like he could go to another Altean noble either, that could start a whole new problem. What did it take for a prince to get a little understanding? 

Lance knew that Hunk was in the process of training under Coran to be Lance's families personal protectors, which meant that Hunk and Coran were around the dining hall somewhere. Unfortunately Lance's personal woes weren't important enough to justify interrupting their duties, so Lance sat and picked at each course in the traditional 12 course meal and halfheartedly participated in conversation. Pretending to be fine was easy when it was just Lance and Allura, or with his father, but being bombarded from all sides was a little harder.

A couple of hours later the courses were technically finished, and Lance was itching to leave. He felt suffocated in heady atmosphere of the room. The dinner itself would go long into the night, and usually Lance would get more than a little drunk, but tonight he could only manage a few sips from his cup before putting it back down for good. 

"I don't feel that great," Lance said, turning to Allura, "I think I'm going to turn in early." 

Allura's face immediately morphed into one of concern. "Do you want me to come with you? Or I could call over Coran?" She asked, leaning over to him, trying to figure out what was wrong. 

Lance immediately shook his head, "No, no, I'll be fine. I just feel a little woozy is all. Can you tell father that I'm heading to bed?"

Allura gave Lance an uncertain nod, but didn't try to stop him when he got up. Good, Lance didn't want to ruin anyone's night, and the Core Alliance was all about celebration and making ties stronger, which Allura was great at. 

Lance strode out of the dining hall in a hurry, taking off his circlet and the ornate outer layer of his robes in the process, if he was going to be mopey about being royalty, he might as well go the whole nine yards. Lance considered returning to his room like he had told Allura he was going to do, but he knew that would only lead to him tossing and turning in his bed for hours. So maybe another solution.

When Lance was younger he used to wander the corridors of the castle, wondering if cool metal floors went on forever, and suddenly a walk seemed like the perfect thing to clear his mind. 

__________________

Keith was pissed off. He knew that certain level of laxness was going to be expected at the festivities, especially because of the seemingly never ending brews the Altean chefs continued to bring out at the feast, but Keith was tired and annoyed and a headache was starting to build in the front of his head from the sheer noise. And to add insult to injury, he couldn't find his damn room. It's not like anything was labeled in the ridiculously decorated castle, and Keith felt like he had been aimlessly stumbling through corridor after corridor in circles. 

The whole thing was stupid, Keith thought to himself bitterly as he passed a holo-portrait of a long dead Altean king for what felt like the twentieth time, he hadn't even gotten to catch a glimpse of the Altean royal family. The literal rulers of Altea, who stood not one hundred yards away from him. Sure, Keith was a little short by Galra standards, but the way the crowd had surged when the speech began was ridiculous. 

Maybe Pidge was right, the Alteans were an elusive people that he would never even get to see, let alone know.

Or maybe, Keith thought, catching sight of a castle servant, he might be in luck. 

"Hey, excuse me," Keith said, raising he voice a touch to grab the servants attention, "Can you help me?"

The servant spun around, all lanky limbs and clear brown skin, to gawk at Keith, "W-what are you doing here?" The Altean stammered, clutching a piece of fabric that Keith could only assume was a robe in his hands, "Why aren't you down at the feast with everyone else?" 

"Look, I'm a little lost. Could you just help me find my room?" Keith asked, restraining himself from angrily muttering the question. 

The servant only seemed more confused, "You don't know who-" the servant cut off and touched his hand to his forehead as if looking for something. His eyes widened in a sudden realization, that Keith didn't understand, nor really care about. He just wanted to make it to his room.

There was a gap of a few seconds before Keith prompted again, "You can help me find my room? You work here at the castle right?" 

A little smile ticked up the servants face, and Keith sort of started to regret asking for any help to begin with, but before he could awkwardly inch away, the servant had looped his arm with Keith's and started off down a corridor. 

"Of course I can help you find your room, because I am definitely, one hundred percent, a servant here at the castle," he said beaming and dragging Keith through the halls. "Soldier right?" 

Keith nodded, a little hesitant, and the servant sent a blinding smile his way. Okay, so alteans were friendly, if slightly manic. Keith looked at the servant the was dragging him down the halls with ease, also super strong, and kinda pretty. 

They made it to a corridor lined with rooms, and the servant turned to Keith. "Did they tell you what room you were in?" He asked, looking very pleased with himself. 

Keith shook his head, "They only gave us this," and showed the servant an Altean symbol on what seemed like a tiny holo-pad. 

"Oh, here," the servant unhooked their arms and walked over to a door with a matching symbol and inserted the little holo-pad into a slot in the wall. The door slid open, and Keith realized that what he thought were useless directions was actually a key. Damn. 

"So, why aren't you at the celebration? It doesn't end for at least a few more hours." The servant asked, leaning up against the door. 

"It's too loud, and staying at the feast seemed useless, I was finished eating. No offense, but this whole celebration seems useless, it just an dumb excuse to party." Keith muttered, he still felt a little pissed that he couldn't even figure out his room. 

"What!? No, no, no. Look Galra soldier, I don't even know your name, but you're wrong. Where's your sense of camaraderie? If there's one thing that we, I mean uh, Altean royalty does well the Core Alliance Celebration is it." The servant said, his face was suddenly pinched, and Keith felt a little caught off guard by how defensive he got. 

"I, uh," Keith stammered, "I just don't see what's so great about it."

The servant seemed to soften a fraction, "Okay, you know what, I'm going to take pity on you-" 

What?!" Keith interjected.

"I'm going to show you the time of your life at these Core Alliance celebrations, because obviously you don't know how to party," The servant declared making a wide sweeping gesture with his arms. "Tomorrow night, meet me where we were before." 

The servant seemed set to head back, but Keith grabbed his arm, a little overwhelmed by what had just been thrown on him. This guy couldn't just say something like that and dash.

"Wait, I don't even know your name," Keith exclaimed, almost desperately grappling for any more information. He had to admit he was a little curious about what the servant had in mind. 

"I'm Lance," Lance said after a moments hesitation. He seemed a little taken aback that Keith had grabbed his sleeve, but soon his face curled into a grin. 

"Can't bear to see me go, huh Galra Soldier?" Lance teased, rounding on Keith, and Keith could only splutter refusals in response.

"My names not Galra soldier anyway," Keith bit out after he recovered, "It's Keith." 

"Alright Keith, I'll see you tomorrow?" 

Keith could neither confirm or deny before Lance was gone, heading back from the way they came.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading!!!!!!? hit me tf up on tumblr im ham-omelet all i do is reblog memes


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i realized that this has kinda a cinderella vibe, oh well ?? anyways this fic is gonna be kinda slow burn i've decided, which is why the interaction this chapter is kinda short. fuckin tune in for next chapter for whatever the hell i decide to write next time bc i am freeforminf The Fuck out of this

"Hunk you know you're my best friend, right?" Lance warbled out. He was stretched across his bed in possibly the most uncomfortable position to ever be laid in, while Hunk sat relaxed in a chair across the room.

"Yes Lance, I know," Hunk replied patiently, "But if you keep dancing around what you asked me to come down here for I'm just going to head back to my room. Coran wants me to be down to start setting up soon." 

"Ugh okay, you're right," Lance said, maneuvering himself into an upright position so he could look at Hunk. "But you have to promise me, no, you have to pinky promise me you're not going to tell anyone. Especially not my father." 

Lance held his pinky out from his perch on the bed, and Hunk tried to fight down a smile as he got up to link their fingers. Lance had never really changed since they were kids, which was reassuring. Hunk knew Lance would never become a demanding and snide noble if he was still making pinky promises and inviting Hunk to his personal chambers to complain. 

"Alright there," Hunk said squeezing Lance's pinky with his own. "Does this have to do with why you left the feast so early?" 

Lance flushed a little, "No, well yes, but not exactly." 

Hunk sighed and took a seat next to Lance, this seemed like it was going to be a long story. 

"So," Lance began, "I left early because I wasn't feeling that well, but I was still all restless so I didn't head back to my room, either. I was roamed the halls for a little while , and long story short, I met a Galra soldier! His name is Keith and he's purple, and he can't find his way in the castle for shit." 

Hunk furrowed his eyebrows, "Wait, why is any of that special? There was literally a whole room full of them last night. Plus they're all purple, why is this guy any different?" 

Lance slung an arm around Hunk, "Hunk, my dear, sweet, naive, Hunk. Keith doesn't know I'm the prince. In fact he thought I was a servant." 

Hunk recoiled a little from Lance's grasp to look at him, "What? How could he not know? You were literally sitting in a throne for half the night. You wore a circlet?!" 

"I don't know how he doesn't know," Lance said shrugging, "By then I had taken off my circlet and the outer layer of my robe. Maybe he's not very observant, or he was kinda short for a Galra, maybe he couldn't see..." 

Lance trailed off, suddenly trying to figure a plausible way how Keith didn't know that he was the prince. It's not like he had pictures of himself all over the castle, and Lance was a fairly common Altean name. Maybe just a lapse in memory?

"Anyways, I found him because he was heading back to his room so early and being the gracious host I am, I offered to show him how to enjoy the Core Alliance celebrations properly, and of course he jumped at the invitation." Lance recounted, smirking at Hunk. 

"Oh really, he jumped at the invitation from a servant?" Hunk asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Hey! I can be charming! I'm meeting him tonight!" Lance exclaimed, shoving Hunk a little in retaliation. "Has the theme been announced?" 

Hunk nodded, "Yeah, the theme for tonight is music. But Lance, I don't understand how you're going to show this guy around, and make sure that he doesn't find out you're the prince."

"Oh quiznak," Lance whispered to himself before turning to Hunk and grabbing his hand. "Hunk, please, you need to help me. Hunk, I've never asked for anything from you." 

"Are you sure about that?" Hunk asked, an eyebrows raised. 

"Okay, I've asked for a few things. Please Hunk, can you cover for me, this is really important." Lance begged, "I'll owe you one."

"You owe me about fifty already," Hunk said seemingly unaffected by Lance's pleas. 

"Hunk please, please, please, please."

"Okay! Okay, I'll help," Hunk conceded, and Lance let go of his hand. "How do you wanna do this?" 

"Shit, how are we going to do this? I have to be there for the beginning of the night to do introduction stuff, and I told him to meet me where we met last night, and we can't let him see me up there or with my crown." Lance muttered, half to himself and half to Hunk. 

Lance was suddenly up off the bed, and pacing across his room. "Hunk it's impossible. I don't know what to do, I like Keith, he's so big, and purple and he treated me like a normal person," Lance whined, clutching his head in his hands. 

"I'm tired of those annoying nobles falling all over me for my crown. It's about someone fell all over me for my natural boyish charm and dashing good looks." 

"Lance-" Hunk started, but was cut off.

"Maybe it wasn't just meant to be," Lance sighed dramatically, suddenly accepting defeat and sinking into the chair Hunk had previously inhabited. 

"Lance you've known him for less than a day, and you can't just give up like that," Hunk said fondly, but a little grimace formed on his face. "I think I know to get this done." 

__________________

"Keith," Pidge called, knocking on Keith's door a couple of times. "I'm heading down to the great hall. Are you ready?" 

Keith slid open his door, "I'm not going to the celebrations tonight." He said starting to press the button to close it again, but Pidge intercepted him firmly holding it open. 

"What do you mean you're not going?" They asked, glowering at Keith. 

"I mean, I'm not going," Keith replied simply, trying to press the close button again. 

Pidge pushed their way into Keith's room, "You do realize that the celebration is the only thing to do in this castle besides sleep, right?" Pidge asked him, with a tone that made it clear that they thought Keith was an idiot. "They let us roam the lower halls and talk to servants and stuff during the day, but literally the only thing we're here for is this celebration." 

"Yes, Pidge, I'm aware," Keith said, wondering if he could push Pidge out of the room and press the close button on the door in one fluid motion, or if Pidge would put up too much of a fight. 

"So you're coming then," They stated, and Keith shook his head in a jerky frustrated motion.

"Pidge I have somewhere to be tonight, just go without me," Keith tried to herd Pidge out, but they stood firmly in their spot in the middle of Keith's room.

"How do you....are you meeting someone?" They asked, an grin creeping across their face.

"What? No!" Keith shot back, trying to figure out what gave him away. 

"You totally are!" Pidge all but gloated, stabbing a finger into Keith's chest. "You're wearing your actual clothes instead of your standard issue uniform and your hair is brushed for once. So who is the lucky Altean? A noble you met last night? A soldier?"

Keith shook is head, flustered that Pidge was able to pin him down so quickly, "It's just a servant so calm down, his name is Lance."

"Lance? I think that's the prince's name. Keith. Are you meeting the prince?" Pidge asked, peering up at Keith with a shit eating grin.

"No, Pidge, this guy was a servant. Maybe he was named after the prince or something," Keith insisted. There was no way that Lance was anything close to nobility, he was too lanky, clumsy and interested in Keith. 

"Yeah you're probably right," Pidge agreed, backing off to take a step towards the door. 

"Be safe or whatever, I don't want to be late," they said before scurrying out.

Keith sighed, and pulled at his clothes. Was it weird to wear his regular clothes instead of a uniform? Was he trying too hard? Why was he even worried about it? He didn't even know Lance, Keith thought, sparing a glance to the time before heading out of the door. He might as well try to find his way back to where they met now. 

It took a couple of minutes of wandering to for Keith to finally recognize something that helped him navigate back to that stupid holo-portrait in the hallways he had met Lance. Keith noticed that he passed not only Galra but a few Alteans dressed in what he could only assume was civilian wear, so not from the castle. 

Instead of Lance waiting in the hall, a tall and stocky Altean guard stood in his place.

"Oh fuck," Keith muttered quietly, had Lance stood him up? 

The guard seemed to brighten when he noticed Keith hovering uncertainly on the other side of the hall. 

"Hey, are you Keith?" The guard asked, and Keith paused for a second before nodding. The Guards face split into a smile, "Lance has to attend to some uh, celebration stuff, so he sent me to tell you and take you to his chambers to wait. I'm Hunk, by the way."

Hunk was suddenly leading the way down the halls that had vexed Keith last night. How the hell did these Alteans remember the way through this huge castle, Keith wondered, he could barely make it back to where he and Lance had met. 

Finally they stood in front of a little chamber, and Hunk pulled out another little key card and slid it in opening the door. 

"Here, Lance won't be long," Hunk said, showing Keith in, before closing the door behind him as he left.

Keith sat in silence, the room was nothing special to look at, a bunk, another door presumably leading to a bathroom. Standard quarters for a servant, except there didn't seem to be any personal effects, which Keith sort of understood. His room back at home wasn't empty but pretty sparsely decorated with a picture or two, and maybe a cool rock he found.

Just as he was starting to doze, the door burst open, and Lance, in all his heaving slightly sweaty glory was there.

"Sorry for making you wait," Lance apologize, heaving a breath. He bent over, to put his hands on his knees in an attempt to recover. 

"Did you run all the way here?" Keith said, suddenly struggling to keep a smile off his face. 

"Not all the way, but yeah pretty much all the way," Lance admitted, righting himself and wiping his forehead. 

"C'mon, we're going to do something fun," Lance said, making for the door. "Are you a good shot?"

Keith nodded, a little dumbfounded but trying not to show it as he followed Lance. 

"Alright good, because I don't want these," Lance held up a bag filled with something, "To go to waste." 

Lance lead him through a door and suddenly loud but delicate music flooded the room, and Keith realized that they were on a tier above a dance floor filled with Altean and Galra nobles. Lance leaned on the railing and grinned, opening to bag to reveal what looked like a bunch of seeds, about four could fit in the palm of his hand comfortably. 

"You see some of those nobles down there? I bet you that I can hit more with these seeds than you can." Lance challenged, a competitive smirk stretching across his face. 

Keith took a few from the bag and felt them in his hand, they weren't particularly hard or heavy so they would be a little harder to throw and aim. 

"Alright, you're on," Keith said, immediately flinging one at a particularly nicely dressed Altean. 

It bounced off the man harmlessly, but he tripped a little in his dance, his head wildly looking around to see what had hit him. Lance ducked, and tugged Keith down with him behind the cover of the balcony. 

"The challenge is, don't get caught," Lance explained, grabbing a seed for himself, and peaking above the railing. 

Keith did the same, and watched as Lance threw three seeds in rapid fire, two connected but one missed. They ducked back down below. 

"You missed one," Keith teased.

"Yeah, well I still got two and you only have one so far, so who's actually winning?" Lance said, pressing his hand into the bag.

They finally quit when they ran out of seeds and people were starting to look up at second floor to figure out what was going on. Lance laid slumped on the floor, while Keith squatted. 

"I don't know how you can even do that without worrying about being dismissed," Keith said offhandedly, "One slip up and you're out with Galra."

Lance laughed a little, "Well, I've got a lot of job security I guess. You didn't do bad though, but I totally won." 

The change in conversation was subtle, but Keith noticed it. Maybe Lance didn't like talking about being a servant, whatever it was Keith played along. 

"What? I totally got more than you, you barely hit half the things you threw!" Keith exclaimed, nudging Lance with his foot. 

Lance rolled over to look at Keith, all pretty blue eyes, and markings on his cheeks, and Keith felt his face heat. Shit. 

"Shit, it sounds like the music is winding down," Lance said suddenly, sitting up alert and a little worried.

"What's the matter?" Keith asked, and Lance was up and tugging Keith to get up too. 

"I'm so sorry, but I need to go. Meet me tomorrow okay?" Lance said, before dashing off, his robes billowing behind him. 

Keith stood on the second floor, a little dumbstruck, wondering how he was supposed to feel about that. And how the hell he was going to get back to his room?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hmu on tumblr @ ham-omelet the kudos and comments i receive validate this works entire exsistence so...... pls leave those..........


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey!!! some sweet sweet Langst in this chapter!! i promise a happy ending though!!!!!!!! endgame is lance/happiness and fulfillment always!!

It was the third night already, and Keith was back in the simple servants quarters from last night, waiting for Lance to arrive. It had been hard to convince Pidge to just go without him, and that, no, they couldn't come to his meeting with Lance. Why? It would just make it weird Pidge, just go without him. Pidge had left pretty reluctantly, although Keith noticed that they tried not to show it. 

The day had left Keith restless, although the celebrations at night were fun, there actually wasn't that much to do in the castle during the day time. Keith was used to training, action, not wandering the halls with Pidge or sitting in his bunk forlornly waiting for night. He wasn't particularly keen on spending time with the other soldiers or navigators or engineers, either. It was only three days in a Keith had resorted to sporadically going through his training in his room when he got bored. 

Keith had considered calling Shiro, see if he could reach him despite the distance between the planets; but decided against it for now. Shiro would be busy, and if Keith complained about being invited to a party...well he knew how that would go. It was an honor to be brought along, and Keith knew Shiro would harp on that. 

The theme for tonight's celebration was the stars, and like the last two nights the castle had gone all out. That was one thing Keith could definitively say about the Alteans, when they did something they went all in. Almost all the corridors and halls had been dimmed to display the decorations that had been set up on the ceilings. The ceilings themselves were specked with tiny white lights in an attempt to emulate the sky, the lights even dimmed a brightened fractionally to twinkle. 

It was beautiful, maybe not that practical, but honestly gorgeous. Keith couldn't even imagine what the great hall looked like. He hoped that in whatever Lance had planned, the servant would at least swing them by there so he could see.

Lance burst in, much like last time, except this time he didn't seem as out of breath. 

He grinned at Keith, and Keith got up from his seat, this time he was going to be ready when Lance dragged him out of the room running. 

"Hey," Lance greeted a little breathlessly, "You're here." 

Keith nodded, "Didn't have anything better to do." 

Lance's jaw dropped in indignation, "What? Am I just a last resort for you?" He asked, huffing and crossing his arms.

Keith smiled, and started his way out for Lance's servants quarters. "Nah, you're more like a second to last resort," Keith teased, purposefully bumping into Lance.

"Alright, alright, wise guy," Lance grumbled, "You better appreciate what I have plans to do tonight." 

With that Keith let Lance lead him to door that slid open with just a touch of Lance's hand. They stepped into the little chamber, and Keith felt a little startled to realize that they were in an elevator. And Lance had just pressed the highest floor number. Where the hell were they going?

They finally reached the top floor, and the elevator beeped benignly as the door slid open. Lance lead the way as per usual, and dragging Keith up one more set of stairs before they were climbing out of window and onto a relatively flat part of the castles roof. 

Lance seemed perfectly at home up here, skipping over the metal happily before settling down next to a basket that Keith hadn't noticed before. 

"You coming Galra soldier or what?" Lance asked, smirking at Keith in almost a challenge. 

A challenge that Keith was going to meet and win. He stepped over the metal gingerly, it was flat but there was no railing or any sort and Keith didn't particularly want to die by trying to cross a roof. 

He finally made it and sat next to Lance, who immediately handed him what looked like a little pastry. 

"Finally made it, huh? Tonight's theme, if you didn't know, is the stars," Lance explained pointing up to the sky. "Which is why we're out here." 

The night was clear and a little cool, and the stars shown down bright as ever. Not a cloud in the sky obstructed their view. Keith took a experimental bite of his pastry, which turned out to be filled with some type of heavily spiced Altean meat. 

Lance pointed up at the sky again, "That constellation is called the lion." His fingers seemed to trace a cluster of stars making the loose outline of an animal. Keith couldn't really see a lion in the shape, but he took Lance's word.

Keith laid back onto the heavy metal plating of the castle roof, half listening as Lance babbled on and on about each constellation, its origins, the story behind it, and what stars made it. Keith hummed along, content to let Lance do most of the talking. He seemed to have a lot to say. A lot of the constellations were ones he had never heard of before, the Galra had different stories about different sets of stars.

"And that constellation is my favorite," Lance said, catching Keith's full attention, "Its called the defender."

Keith recognized this one, for the Galra it was the same. 

"Why is it your favorite?" He asked, turning his head to Lance. 

Lance shrugged, "I dunno, the story behind it. The defender saved the whole universe in the myth, and I guess I want to do something important like that too."

There was something open, vulnerable and a little sad on Lance's face for a second before it was quickly covered up with a smile and an embarrassed laugh. 

"Ha, sorry didn't mean to ramble on. What's your favorite?" 

Keith looked up at the sky again, before pointing to a large shape. "It's called the blade," He said, his fingers tracing the outline again for Lance to see. 

Lance nodded eagerly and intently looked at the sky. "It looks like a soup ladle to me." 

"What!?" Keith almost shouted, "How does it look like a soup ladle?" 

Lance pointed to the knife's tip, "Well, that's the handle, and it sort of dips down into the spoon part."

Keith huffed. "I guess," He muttered, now it really did look like a soup ladle and Keith couldn't see it any other way. Dumb Lance and his stupidly long fingers ruining his favorite constellation. 

"Look it's not my fault that your 'knife' look perfect for moving soup," Lance said with a jaunty smile, before he peeked into the basket he had brought out, "We're out of snacks."

Keith heaved himself up, "Should we get more?" 

A bell chimed in the distance, and Keith could see Lance counting the tones. He must have servant business to attend to at a very strict time, Keith thought, watching Lances lips move silently. 

As soon as the bell finished chiming, Lance perked up, his usual grin back in place. "You know I think we have time for the little more that just getting some more food. This is when the dances usually begin, want to head down to the great hall?" 

Keith nodded, and started to head back to the window they had squeezed through before, as Lance gathered up their impromptu picnic.

__________________

Lance was goddamned near ecstatic when they reached the great hall, because it was just as he thought it was going to be: dark. Can't recognize a prince if you can't see a prince. The room wasn't pitch black of course, like the hallways this room had tiny lights affixed to the ceiling, the only difference was the addition of long string lights that hung down a few feet. 

The room was filled with dim figures occasionally bumping into each other as they danced. The music swelled, and Lance found himself latching onto Keith's hand so he didn't lose him in the crowd. They inched through the crowd slowly, Keith's fingers wrapped around Lance's, trying to find a clearing in the forest of people. 

Lance after working himself through a particularly tight squeeze Lance stumbled headfirst into his father and Lord Zarkon. 

"Careful there," The king warned kindly and Lance quickly ducked his head, disguising it as a low bow, praying he hadn't been caught. Keith followed suit, bowing to his emperor and the king. 

"Please uh, excuse me, your majesty!" Lance said lowering his voice in a vain attempt to hide who he was. He felt his heart pound in his chest, and wondered if Keith could feel his pulse picking up in his hand. Maybe this is how it would all fall apart, only halfway through the celebrations and Keith would hate him for lying and neve-

"Not a problem," Alfor said a slight chuckle in his voice, and turned back to his companion. 

Lance slunk away, slowly careful not to bring anymore attention to himself. As he and Keith retreated to one of the far walls of the room where the crowd was thinner Lance heard the last snippet of what his father and Zarkon were talking about.

"I'm just not sure to do with my son, Prince Lance, he hasn't shown any..." The music swelled again, and Lance was too far away to hear the rest of what his father said about him. 

A cold pit of dread suddenly formed him Lance's stomach, the knot of anxiety tight as ever. So his father did see him as a burden, good for nothing but marrying off to some random planet. The warm and heady room filled with noise was suddenly too much, Lance's eyes started to sting as pin prick tear formed. He barely registered Keith's eyebrows furrowing in concern and slight horror about the fact that Lance was definitely crying now. 

"Oh quiznak," Keith muttered and turned to Lance. "Hey, how about we get out of here," he suggested and Lance could only manage a nod, as he scrubbed his eyes with his hands. 

Keith was the one guiding Lance this time, taking him to the only place that he really knew how to get to from the great hall with any certainty, his own bunk. 

They got there in record time, despite the added difficult of the dim hallways. Keith was soon unlocking his door, sitting Lance down on his bed with a gentle but awkward pat on a back as he took a the seat across the room. 

Lance sobbed for a minute before getting himself under control. When he had calmed down to the point of deep shuddery breaths and the occasional hiccup, he raised his head to regard Keith with his watery gaze.

"I'm sorry," Lance said suddenly embarrassed about the scene he had caused and how profoundly nervous Keith looked hunched in his little seat across the room, his long furry ears pinned back in concern. 

Lance wiped his eyes, "I usually don't do this, I'm generally pretty good at keeping my composure." 

Keith offered a soft but worried grin, a few of his pointed teeth showing, "No, it's fine don't apologize. I understand if being around people can be a lot." 

Lance let out a wet laugh.

"Yeah," he said his tone bittersweet, "People are the worst." 

They say in comfortable silence for a while until Lance heaved himself up from the bunk, and walked over to the door, Keith rising from his chair to follow. 

"I have to go," Lance said, reluctant to leave this newfound safe haven from his duties as prince. "But I'll see you tomorrow?" 

Keith nodded, and Lance slid the door open ready to leave before Keith grabbed his shoulder lightly. 

"Lance, I may be overstepping my bounds but, you are going to do something important someday." Keith said, and his face alone seemed set to destroy every one of Lance's insecurities.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ???? hope it wasn't too cheesy 4 u!!!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this ones kinda slow, tbh i posted and deleted it before but i feel slightly better about it now so /shrug/ enjoy i guess?

"Lance? Where did you disappear off to for the last two nights? You were here with father and I but when the music began and you simply vanished!" Allura asked, spooning another scoop of breakfast into her mouth. 

They were both seated in a antechamber that branched off of Allura's bedroom. It was set up like a little kitchen, with huge windows that let early morning light pour into the room and illuminate everything with a soft glow. 

Lance shrugged and gave Allura an easy smile from the counter where he was making his own breakfast. 

"I don't know, it must have just been really crowded the last two nights and that's why you didn't see me," Lance suggested, taking his food to sit across from Allura. 

The nonchalance that he was putting up was entirely an act, in fact Lance still felt excitement buzzing under his skin from last night, even though he and Keith had only been able to be together for a little bit before being a prince got in the way again. It was an important act though, if Allura sensed anything off she would know Lance was lying, and then would come the questions about what he was actually doing. 

And Lance didn't know if he could explain that he was showing a Galra soldier a good time because he had treated Lance like a servant in a way that Allura would understand. 

"You must have stayed out of trouble then," Allura said, a smirk creeping onto her face, "I remember last time at the celebrations you made that whole big scene."

Lance groaned, and rested his head on a the table. "Ugh, that was four years ago! And plus that noble knew he was in the wrong seat! He was just sitting there to piss me off." 

Allura shook her head and kicked Lance under the table affectionately, "Father is glad you didn't get into anything last night even if he didn't see you at all, but I was a little lonely without you."

"Sorry," he said, before shoveling a bite of breakfast into his mouth, suddenly sullen with the mention of his father. Lance had almost forgotten. 

He didn't know exactly what his father and Emperor Zarkon had been speaking about in regard to him, but his mind filled in the gaps with the worst case scenarios. Marriage to a foreign noble, being sent off to some random corner of the universe away from his family. Lance had to stop this train of thought before he started to tear up again. 

Lance did feel a little guilty about leaving Allura alone to fend for herself against all the Galra nobles. Lance liked meeting new people because there was the chance that they might become friends or have something interesting to say, but some nobles simply latched onto him and wouldn't talk about anything else besides betrothal or some politics that could easily be fixed if pride wasn't involved. Some nobles were just fucking obnoxious, and although he knew Allura could take care of herself, it still made him feel guilty that he hadn't been there to help.

"Well, I'll see you tonight, right? The theme is story telling, so I think father may have planned this one just for you!" Allura said, finishing up her breakfast and putting her dirty dishes on the counter. The servants would collect them eventually. 

"Oh, yeah," Lance laughed nervously, "Don't worry, I'll be there." 

How the fuck was he going to be there?

Some sort of distress must have shown in his face, because Allura suddenly regarded him with a very serious look. "Lance, if you ever want to talk about anything. Please know I'm here for you. I know that being an heir and royalty is hard but it's a burden that we must bear together." She said, leaning down to him. 

Lance's eyes widened, he hadn't expected his sister to get all deep on him suddenly. Oh quiznak, she probably wanted to have a deep talk about coming of age and the importance of knowing your responsibility to the people. Lance couldn't take this talk again. He had to deflect, say something, anything, that would change the subject. 

"I met someone," He blurted out suddenly, and Allura immediately looked delighted. 

"You did? Who?" She asked eagerly, sitting back down at the seat across from Lance, "Is it serious?" 

"Uh, his name is Keith. He's a Galra soldier." 

Allura raised her eyebrows, "I didn't think you were interested in common people, Lance even you're not that narcissistic!" 

"No, no, it's not like that," he assured Allura. 

He definitely wasn't just keeping Keith around to fawn over Lance being royalty, like Allura was thinking. Keith didn't think he wasn't anything more than a servant, with maybe a perk or two. Although Lance could see where Allura would get the idea, Lance had complained to her a while ago that he was annoyed that all the common people had seemed afraid of him, or just blindly praised him, but Keith was different. Lance had a feeling that Keith would treat him the same no matter what his status. Or, at least he hoped. 

Allura furrowed her eyebrows, obviously trying to put together the pieces of what was going on. 

"If he isn't a noble, and he isn't afraid of you..." She trailed off and Lance could see the almost see the gears spinning in her brain. 

Lance was disappointed in himself, he had given too much away too quickly. Allura was whip smart and she would be figuring him out any sec-

"He doesn't know you're the prince!" Allura suddenly said, looking to Lance sharply to see his reaction to her accusation.

Lance pursed his lips, and after a few seconds, he hesitantly said, "That may be just...a little slightly, completely accurate." 

"Lance!" Allura exclaimed, her tone admonishing. 

"I know! I know! It's bad." Lance said, waving his arms. 

"But Allura, he's so, so, ugh." Lance groaned, unable to enunciate how much he liked Keith. It was a little embarrassing how quickly he had gotten attached. Especially after what had happened last night, Keith was quickly climbing the list of Lance's favorite people. Sure, he could be a little competitive and contrary, from what Lance had seen so far, but if Keith could handle Lance crying he was good in Lance's book.

"So that's why Hunk was acting so weird when I asked him where you were," Allura said, half to herself, before turning to Lance. 

"You going to have to tell, what was his name? Keith? You're going to have to tell Keith you're the prince at some point." She said, her tone a little more gentle than before as if she sensed Lance's distress wasn't just his usual dramatics. 

 

Quiznak, Lance hadn't even thought about telling Keith. He had sort of just been hoping that maybe Keith already knew he was prince and he was humoring Lance by pretending he was a servant. So Lance would never have to confess. Maybe he could keep up the act till the end of the week and never have to see Keith again after the Core Alliance Celebrations. Never have to have Keith upset at him. 

Allura seemed to take pity on him, "Oh, you really do like him," she sighed. "You have to think about it from his perspective, Lance. You can't just tug him around. Are you considering starting a courtship with him?"

Lance buried his head in his arms. "I don't know," came Lance's muffled reply, "I don't even know if he likes me back. Or likes Altean guys." 

"Well, I think it's some indication that he's skipping the regular party to spend time with you?" Allura suggested, "Perhaps he just needs a nudge in a right direction to realize if he has feelings like you do?" 

Allura's circlet glinted in the early morning sun, but it was her eyes that held a bigger mischievous sparkle. Yup, this had been a Mistake. Capital M. Don't get your nosy older sister involved with your secret Galra soldier crush who doesn't know that you're the prince of a large, sovereign galactic civilization. Bad time.

Really bad time. 

"You know, I'm just gonna go before things get weird," Lance said, rising from his seat, before Allura had an iron grip on his shoulder. Damn, he always forgot how strong she was. 

"I'm gonna give you a little advice," she said, and Lance settled in. He may have avoided the responsibility talk, but this one wasn't optional. 

_____________________

Lance and Keith were stealing a ship, Keith was going to get Lance off this godforsaken rock if it killed him. 

They were running towards the ships lined up in neat rows in the castle, Keith leading the way and hopping into closest one. He was tense with exhilaration and Lance seemed to share that, grinning back at Keith as he powered up the ship. 

Guards and the King ran after them in vain, Keith was already lifting them off the ground and into the vast expanse of space. They were going, far away, somewhere that Lance wouldn't cry anymore and they would be okay. 

"Keith," Lance said, grabbing and holding onto him. Keith turned to Lance, he took his hands off the controls to frame Lance's face, nearly covering the light blue markings that rested high on his cheeks. 

"Keith!" Lance said again more urgently this time, except suddenly everything was gone and Keith had startled awake.

Keith took stock of what had just happened, he was lying in his bunk in the castle. Oh, Keith let out the breath he didn't know he had been holding, it was just a dream.

Just as Keith began to relax again, a loud bang on the door made his tense up. 

"Keith!?" Pidge called impatiently from outside, "Are you up yet?" 

Keith sighed and heaved himself out of bed, he was still in the same clothes from last night. Too tired to even bother changing out of them, and a little too worried about Lance. 

Keith slid the door open to reveal a very pissed off looking Pidge, who huffed angrily at him before pushing past and making themselves comfortable on his bed. 

"What is up with you Keith?" They asked suddenly, "I don't think I've ever seen you sleep in a day of your life." 

"I was just tired," Keith said crossing his arms.

"You were tired because that altean you've been meeting with was crying when you came back to you're room."

Keith let out a defeated exhale, he had probably kept this from Pidge for too long, and after that dream, he didn't know if he could handle it completely by himself anymore.

"Alright, I didn't get a lot of sleep, because I think the people at the castle are mistreating Lance," Keith finally said, and Pidge's eyebrows immediately shot up.

"Why do you think this," Pidge asked.

"When Lance bumped into the king last night, he started crying and freaking out as soon as that happened. Why else would that happen Pidge unless he was being mistreated here," Keith argued, suddenly all wound up about the idea of Lance being not treated well.

"He doesn't have anything in his servants quarters and he's always sneaking around like he's afraid to be caught not doing work."

Pidge squinted their eyes at Keith, "And this is reason enough for you to think that Lance is being mistreated? Keith, you've known him for what, three days? You can't just jump in and stick yourself where you don't belong." Pidge was rolling their eyes, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. 

But then again, Pidge had a penchant for being right about pretty much everything. 

"Well, what should I do?" Keith grumbled, not very happy at being so efficiently put down. 

Pidge shrugged, "I dunno, maybe actually attend the celebrations with me tonight and bring Lance?"

"Oh." Lance had seemed pretty upset last night but maybe if Keith could just keep him away from the King, Lance wouldn't be scared. 

If Keith ever met Alfor again, he would get a piece of his mind for how Lance reacted.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lol another cliffhanger guys ;) but trust me things r about to get real wyld real soon. any mistakes are mine because i don't have a beta or anything and i'm trash

Lance was feeling a little bit trapped. Well, if he was being completely honest he felt damn near panicked. He had spoken with his father earlier that day and Alfor seemed ecstatic about the storytelling festival, the worst part was that he expected Lance to take part in the main celebration the whole night. Lance had nodded halfheartedly and his father had grinned back at him, and Lance felt the tiniest touch of guilt for skipping the other nights. Even if his father was going to marry him off, Lance still loved him, and if it was best for the people how could he protest? Lance might be miserable, but whatever he had to do, he would do it. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad, he tried to convince himself.

But, back to more pressing topics, how was Lance going to do this? 

He was obviously going to meet Keith a little later in the servants quarters after Alfor had introduced the theme and explained it a little bit to the crowd of Galra and altean civilians, but after that? Lance had no clue what he was doing. Allura's advice that she gave him that morning only added to his indecision about everything.

Lance was, of course, dressed in his fine robes and circlet for tonight, which he would remove as soon as he went to meet Keith. Which he was on his way to now. He had a servants outfit stashed away in his room that he had been slipping on to see Keith. The outfit in general made in blend in better, and the servant that had lent it to him had Lance's eternal love and affection, and also probably a favor because they didn't mention it to the king. 

As he slipped through the halls to his room, a few thespians passed by him dressed in costumes of long dead kings or heros from Altean folklore, Lance smiled at them as they walked by. They were obviously dress for a play or reenactment of an ancient story in Altea's history. From seeing the crown on the top of the players head, a plan was already formulating in Lance's.

He had to go to the main event, he couldn't wear servants robes like the last time or his father and the actual servants would question him and blow his cover. But...

Lance made it to his room and looked in the mirror at his long ornate robes, the elegant shine of his circlet, and the multiple earrings that he had put on for the occasion. 

Maybe, Lance thought, he could be disguised in plain sight. Keep on the same robes he had on now, tell a story about himself and act it out like he was just in a costume. It could work, Keith probably didn't know enough about Altean customs, and if he could convince Allura to keep father away from him, it could work. It could all work out. 

Lance grinned at his reflection in the mirror, suddenly very pleased with his plan. Lance turned on the communicators that hung on his ears and called Allura. 

"Lance? What do you need? Don't think I didn't notice you slip off again." She said, sounding a little agitated. 

"No, don't worry I'll be back. I just need one favor, Allura." Lance responded, praying to whatever deity that she would say yes. 

"What is it?" 

"Can you keep father away from me all night. I'm going to bring Keith to the main celebrations." Lance asked, clutching his hands together even though Allura couldn't see him. 

He heard her let out a deep exhale on the other side before saying, "Alright Lance, I'll keep father in the main hall. There is about four other rooms that have been set for plays and folklore and common folk stories." 

She sighed again, "Just be careful alright? You need to tell Keith at some point." 

Lance nodded, and then remembered Allura couldn't see him. "I know, I'll figure it out soon. I promise." 

"Alright, have fun Lance." 

 

________________

Keith probably shouldn't have brought Pidge. In fact, Keith definitely shouldn't have brought Pidge, he thought, as they sat in the servants quarters waiting for Lance. Pidge was picking through the room, inspecting the furniture and the bed that was impeccably made. He hadn't even told Lance about Pidge coming.

As Pidge put their hand on the knob to one of the drawers, Keith spoke up. 

"Don't look through Lance's stuff," He said furrowing his eyebrows. 

Pidge took their hand off the drawer, and held them up. "Okay, okay, look can't I be a little curious about who this guy is?" 

"Yeah, but you can do that without snooping," Keith said, standing and stretching. 

He turned as he heard the now familiar sound of the door sliding open, and he turned to introduce Lance to Pidge. 

It was Lance, yeah, but he was practically glowing, and Keith felt maybe just a bit breathless. He had a light blue robe on that matched the marks on his cheeks, and a circlet glimmered on his forehead. When he turned to peer curiously at Keith, Keith noticed that rows of sparkling earrings that lined Lance's delicately pointed ears. How had Keith not noticed how cute his ears were? How?

"Keith? You okay?" Pidge asked, nudging him. 

"Yeah I'm fine," Keith said, tearing his eyes away from Lance, a little red. It wasn't just the jewelry or the clothes, Lance seemed to just fit in what he was wearing. He held himself different or something. More confidently. 

Pidge stepped forward and stuck out their hand, "Hi, I'm Pidge, Keith said I could come along today, if you don't mind. I'm a navigator in training."

Lance brightened and took Pidge's hand shaking it excitedly, "Woah! That's so cool! Did you navigate one of the ships here?" Lance asked smiling eagerly. 

Any apprehension about Pidge and Lance meeting was gone as Pidge delved into a lengthy explanation of what it took to become a navigator. 

As Pidge's explanation came to a close, Lance let out an almost dreamy sigh, "When I was younger I really wanted to become a pilot." 

Pidge nodded, "Yeah piloting pretty cool I guess." 

Keith took advantage of the lull in the conversation to finally comment on Lance's outfit. 

"What's with the get up Lance?" Keith asked, tugging gently on one of the long and flowing sleeves of Lance's robes. 

Lance looked down suddenly like he forgot he was in a costume. 

"Oh! I was in one of the plays earlier about the prince," he explained. "Yeah, it was a play about how righteous and what a good leader he is." Lance said, a smug grin crept on his face. 

Pidge wrinkled their nose, "I thought the princess was the first in line to inherit the throne." 

"Y'know I think it's time we get going," Lance said taking Keith's arm and motioning Pidge along. 

Keith took both of them down the corridors, but avoided the main hall and stuck to one of the smaller rooms filled with mainly common people and Galra. One Galra soldier stood in front of a relatively large crowd, telling a story that sounded like it was about when he joined the Galra army. His hands were waving excitedly, and his big ears twitched every time he got particularly worked up. 

Keith noticed that as they entered the room a few Altean citizens bowed deeply before Lance. 

Keith nudged Lance, gesturing to the bowing Alteans. "Why are they bowing?"

"Uh, we take the costumes and theater stuff really seriously here. They're trying to play along and stay in character," Lance explained with a nervous laugh before flapping his hand at the Alteans trying to disperse them. 

Pidge seemed to regard the Alteans with a sharp curiosity, even after Lance's explanation, but Keith took it. From the last few nights he knew Alteans took these celebrations seriously. 

All three of them settled on a seat set up on the edge of the room, and Pidge took this as their opportunity to grill Lance on every piece of Altean knowledge they could. 

"So, what's it like being a servant for the royal family?" They asked, leaning in and squinting at Lance. 

Lance smiled nervously and shrugged, "It's alright, they're all nice and everything." 

It was a vague enough answer for Keith to be a little concerned, he picked up on the discomfort in Lance's voice. 

"Have you ever been off Altea?" Keith asked, cutting in to try and make Lance more comfortable so Pidge wouldn't ask again.

Lance nodded eagerly, "Yeah, I went to your home planet when I was super young, so I don't remember it." 

Keith nodded and rubbed the back of his neck, suddenly a little nervous. 

"Do you think you'll ever visit after the celebrations?" He asked, stubbornly avoiding Lance's eyes. 

Lance flushed, before punching Keith's shoulder gently, "Already gonna miss me?" Lance teased, but his red face ruined it. 

Pidge muttered a tiny, "For the love of quiznak." 

Keith turned to shoot a glare at Pidge, but all he got in return was Pidge's shit-eating grin. Lance didn't seem to notice any of this, as his attention was drawn by the Galra soldier stepping down from where he had been speaking. 

"Do you guys wanna share a story?" Lance said suddenly, standing up and tugging Keith up with him. 

Keith shook his head, and tried to sit back down but suddenly Pidge was up too, eagerly agreeing with Lance. 

"I think that's an excellent idea, Keith I'm sure you have plenty of stories from training right?" Pidge asked, pushing Lance in the direction of the crowd that was curiously looking around to see who would volunteer next. 

After a few seconds of resistance, Keith look at Lance's excited face and relented. "Fine," He muttered, walking up to the crowd. 

Lance and Pidge eagerly followed behind him until he stepped up onto the slight rise in the floor where the last Galra soldir had stood. 

The crowd fell silent, and Keith coughed awkwardly. He hadn't even thought of a story to tell, why the hell had he walked up so quickly!? 

Keith opened his mouth to excuse himself, off the stage, and maybe off the planet, but suddenly he felt the weight of the crowds eyes on him and froze. Keith didn't have stage fright, but actually looking at his peers, people he'd never really had any interest to know, in a huge crowd waiting for him to say something funny and entertaining was a little too much. 

Lance was up and jogging towards the front of the crowd in a hurry, putting his arm around Keith and smiling at the crowd. The crowd rumbled at the addition of the finely dressed Altean. 

"I think I know what story he wants to tell," Lance said easy going as ever, beaming at the crowd. 

Lance was then launching into the story about how they met, how the reason that Lance was wandering the halls because he was he was upset about his family, Keith had never known that. Keith suddenly felt even more protective, first the king, and then his own family. Lance couldn't catch a break. Keith found himself at first hesitantly chiming in on details, and then more confidently telling the story. 

The crowd of Galra seemed at least somewhat moved by the story, which is more than Keith could've hoped for. 

Finally they stepped down, the next story teller taking their place. Lance was practically buzzing with excitement, while Keith was just relieved that he made it back to Pidge. Pidge who was regarding Lance with an even more critical eye than before, but Pidge wasn't easy to get to open up or make friends quickly. 

"So, Pidge," Lance asked, "Do you have any stories of Keith?" 

"Why I'm glad you asked Lance." 

Keith regretted every second of his entire life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next chapter!!!! betrayal???!?!? romance!?!???? blood!?!??! the embarrassing photo for the christmas party??!??? thanks for leaving comments i love u all so much


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the Shit Hits the Fan (tm) chapter

Pidge was already partway into the second embarrassing story they had told tonight about Keith, Lance's face was still flushed and grinning from the conclusion of the last one, and Keith was bearing it. 

"So all soldiers have to have a little bit of piloting experience, just in case, which is how Keith and I met he was piloting a ship in a simulation and I was the navigator." Pidge took a breath, and conspiratorially leaned inward, "It's real ships and everything, but they're being monitored from a distance. We're doing this simulation where you're supposed to land the ship, and then report back to your commanding officer with your location and status and all that." 

Pidge let out a giggle, as if they remembered where the story was going. 

"So Keith does that perfectly, I'm not kidding, I'm pretty sure the instructor gave you a perfect score." 

"So when does it get embarrassing?" Lance asked, furrowing his eyebrows. 

"Oh no," Pidge laughed, "That comes next." 

Keith ducked his head a little, he remembered this story perfectly. 

"So I was walking out of it with Keith, and this other soldier in training who was watching the simulation goes up to you and congratulates you, and he asked you on a date, right?" Pidge asked, and Keith could only manage a nod. 

"Well, the guy is suddenly on the floor caused Keith just decked him. I run over and I'm really worried because I thought the guy said something terrible, and you looked pissed!" Pidge explained further, making a motion to Keith as they spoke. 

"But I asked you what's going on and you were like," Pidge did their best imitation of Keith, letting their voice go a little deeper and more raspy. "'That guy just tried to fight me' and I asked you what he had said and the poor guy had only been able to get out, 'hey you wanna go' before Keith knocked him the fuck out." 

Lance was pretty much in hysterics by this part of the story, and Pidge was getting close too. Their story had been interrupted by a few spot where they tried to calm themselves down in fear of not being able to finish. Keith really wished he hadn't been born. 

"You-you, punched him?" Lance wheezed, covering his mouth with his hand as he laughed. 

Keith frowned, he wasn't used to being laughed at by more than just Pidge. Even Shiro took him pretty seriously. 

Pidge calmed down enough to wheeze out the next phrase that had him and Lance almost on the floor again, "He almost got kicked out of the military because of it." 

Lance slung his arm around Keith, leaning into him a little for support. 

"That's the funniest thing I've ever heard, Keith," Lance said, trying, and failing to stop giggling, his face was bright and he had been laughing so hard that little tears had formed in the corners of his eyes. 

Maybe it wasn't so bad, Keith reasoned with himself.

They passed time swapping stories, Lance happily talking a mile a minute about his sister, which made Keith a little more relieved about Lance's life, and Keith opening up more about Shiro and his training as a soldier when Lance asked, and Pidge rambling on about Rover whenever they were given the chance. 

Pidge glanced down at the little watch that they had strapped around their wrist and their eyebrows shot up in surprise. 

"Woah, it's a lot later than I thought it was," they muttered, "I think I might turn in." 

Pidge wished Lance and Keith a goodnight, before taking their leave. On the way out Pidge shot Keith a thumbs up and a wink, which Keith couldn't respond to, but it bolstered his confidence to have Pidge's blessing.

It was just him and Lance now, the room wasn't as crowded as it was before, only a few stragglers were still caught up in the celebrations, the majority more than a little drunk. 

Keith's attention was torn from them, when Lance tugged on his sleeve. 

"Hey, wanna head to your room? I want to hear more about Shiro, and Pidge." Lance suggested, and Keith agreed. 

Lance lead him through the hallways that were finally starting to make some damn sense to Keith after traveling them so many times, and when they finally made it Keith inserted his key card and the door slid open. 

Lance happily settled onto Keith's bed, already halfway through another question about Keith's life when Keith was kissing him, hands cupped around Lance's cheeks. 

Lance hesitated a first, his lips unresponsive against Keith's and his arms laying limp at his sides. And then, it was like a damn broke. Lance was everywhere at once, licking into Keith's mouth, his long arms wrapping around Keith to bring him closer, and his eyes sinking closed almost dreamily. Keith could hear his pulse hammering so hard, he wondered absentmindedly if Lance might feel it pressed up against him so tight.

They parted when Lance let out a tiny groan, Lance startling backwards as if he couldn't believe that he had made that sound. Keith pressed close again to continue but Lance stopped him gently. 

"Wait, we should talk about this first," Lance panted. 

"I like you, a lot," Keith said, and Lance flushed and grinned back at him. 

"I like you too," and Keith couldn't help the warm wave of affection that spread over him when Lance leaned in to give him a chaste kiss. 

Fuck it, Keith decided, he was impulsive, reckless and bathing in the afterglow of their kiss. Anything was possible. 

"Come back with me," Keith blurted out, searching Lance's face for approval. 

Lance frowned, and Keith felt his chest ache a little. 

"I can't Keith, I have a responsibility here, and my family. I would if I could, but I just can't," Lance said.

"You're a servant, no one here seems to appreciate you. You started crying last night because you were afraid of your king. No one deserves to live in fear, so come back with me, your sister could come too." Keith explained, his voice hopeful. 

Lance's face was frozen for a second before it morphed to looking absolutely crushed. 

"Keith, I need you to promise me something. I'm about to say something, and I need you to promise me that you won't hate me afterward," Lance held out his pinky solemnly and Keith linked it tightly with his own, whatever Lance said Keith could take it. He knew he could. 

"Keith, I'm the crown prince of Altea," Lance said his face a mask of apprehension. 

Keith couldn't help it, he snorted. 

Lance furrowed his eyebrows, "Keith, this isn't a joke. I'm the prince." 

And suddenly every puzzle piece was fitting into place, the costume, the jewelry, the robe that Lance held the first night, why the Alteans had bowed, why Lance could get away with throwing things at nobles, why every where they went except for tonight they stayed away from the main festivities. It all made sense, and suddenly, Keith was recoiling, backing off, trying to decide if he should be settling himself in a low bow, or punching Lance hard in the cheek. Keith sat far away from Lance, stuck in his own indecision. 

He felt like a fucking idiot.

Lance, or Prince Lance now, was regarding him with wide eyes from across the bed.

"Keith, wait, this doesn't change anything, Keith I still like you," Lance said, practically begging Keith to come back into his embrace, forget that Lance had said anything. Forget anything had happened. 

Keith felt a hot flash of anger squeeze his stomach, and Keith restrained himself from yelling, fuck you Lance it changed everything. How could Lance have lied like that? Was everything he knew about Lance a lie? Was it just some royalty having fun by tugging around a clueless Galra soldier? Lance probably laughed about how dumb Keith was every night about to a crowd of admirers. 

Keith heard himself mutter a cold, "Stay away from me," baring his teeth, before he left Lance wide eyed on his bed. 

___________________

Lance wandered the halls numb, he was looking for Keith in theory, but his mind wouldn't stop rewinding the last words Keith said. 

Stay away from me. 

Lance had sat on Keith's bed in vain for a few minutes after he had left, hoping that Keith would return and Lance could at least have the chance to explain himself. He didn't come back, of course, and Lance finally had to haul himself off the bed and out of Keith's room a little more than shell shocked. 

He smashed head on into someone's chest, and Lance's hopeful mind immediately thought of Keith as he looked up to apologize. It was Hunk, sweet, good Hunk. 

"Lance, are you okay? You look a little upset," Hunk asked, putting his hand on Lance's shoulder to steady him. 

Lance couldn't do anything but bury his head into Hunk's chest and cry. 

Hunk guided him through the halls, carefully taking Lance back to his room. He placed Lance on his bed as Lance continued to cry, and he heard Hunk calling Allura on his own communicator, and talking to her in soft tones.

Lance shuddered, and grasped his chest, overwhelmed and unprepared. It felt like he had had the whole world in his palm and it had been snatched from him in one fell swoop. 

Allura arrived a few minutes later, immediately scooping Lance into a tight hug, and Hunk mirrored her, and finally Lance felt himself begin to clam down. 

Lance was taking deep shaky breaths when Allura finally asked, "Lance what happened."

"I told Keith I was prince, and he left," Lance sobbed again, overcome by his emotions by recounting what had happened. 

"He left?" Allura asked, rubbing Lance's back, and Lance could only manage a nod. 

"He," Lance hiccuped, "He said to stay away from him."

Allura sighed and shook her head, "Oh Lance, I'm sorry." 

Lance nodded, and Hunk squeezed him a little bit. 

"Here," Allura said, removing Lance's circlet, "It's late, try to get some sleep. Things will be better in the morning." 

Lance nodded again, shakily taking off his outer robe, Allura pressed a soft kiss on his forehead and Hunk rubbed Lance's back, assuring him that he could call him any time tonight if he felt up to talking about it. 

Lance didn't have any strength to stay up any longer, so once Hunk and Allura had left he curled up on top of his covers and fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading i love the comments and kudos feel free to hmu on my tumblr ham-omelet also if u guys feel compelled to draw smthing from this.............................do it. also just a quick btw this fic isn't gonna have any smut in it, i'm too weak but if you guys wanna write that for this au ............................i fully endorsed doing it


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> they get advice from Older Men

Keith was banging on Pidge's door, hoping that they were still awake even though they had turned in hours ago. Finally the door slid open and Pidge greeted Keith with a confused frown. 

"Why are you here? I thought you were off with Lance?" Pidge said, rubbing their eyes sleepily. Keith must have woken them up, but he couldn't bring himself to care as he brushed passed Pidge to stand tensely in the middle of the room. 

"Okay?" Pidge said offhandedly, closing the door and turning to Keith, they hadn't caught on to Keith's fists clenching and unclenching and the hard set of his mouth, yet. 

"Oh," Pidge said, realizing. "Keith what happened?" 

Keith lowered himself into the chair that the room had, and looked at his knees. 

"Lance lied," he gritted out. 

"Huh?" Pidge said, "Lance? Lied about what?" 

"He's the fucking prince," Keith said, low and quiet. 

Keith's feet bounced against the ground and his hand drew restless circles on his leg. He had to get up and move, do something. Maybe he could head back home now, he knew that a few pods during the week travelled back and forth between the two planets. Maybe Keith could sneak aboard. Get away from here. 

"You didn't know?" Pidge asked, furrowing their eyebrows. 

Keith head jerked up to stare at Pidge, his face was the picture of hurt. 

"You knew he was prince?" Keith asked, standing suddenly, but Pidge didn't back down. 

"I felt like it was really obvious, the first night with the speech and all the following nights when the king explained what the theme was Lance was up there on one of the seats next to the throne, the robes and crown were real obviously," Pidge explained, ticking off each reason in their fingers. "I can't believe you didn't notice."

Keith couldn't take this anymore, maybe he had come here with the hope of a little sympathy or someone to talk to but obviously Pidge wasn't that person. Keith stomped out of the room as quickly as he had come in, leaving Pidge at the door, calling after him fruitlessly. 

He was leaving, he was going home and he didn't care what happened. Keith needed to calm down, and being in this castle surrounded by what was upsetting him wasn't helping. 

Keith made it back to his room and angrily packed his things, stuffing his uniform and clothes into the bag that he had brought and all his other personal effects, before heading back down the hall. 

If there was one thing Keith remembered it was was where all the ships were housed. Keith slipped into the huge ship bay, and quickly identified a little pod that a few Galra were standing outside of, they were obviously close to being ready to leave. With all Keith's energy focused on how to slip onto the ship without arousing suspicion of the other Galra, he felt a little less volatile, and more in control. The sooner he got home the sooner he could fucking forget about Lance. 

_____________________

Lance groaned as he rolled out of his bed, he felt like he had been hit by a train. His chest and face ached and his cheeks felt tacky with dried tears. Oh yeah, he remembered with a sad upturn of his lips, Keith. Lance stretched and took stock, he wasn't going to have a repeat of last night. Lance refused. Haphazardly wandering around the castle in tears would probably only make things worse. Lance looked at the time, and thankfully it was still pretty early, he knew there was a lunch he was supposed to attend in a hour but that was more that enough time to try and find Keith. 

Lance pulled on some simple robes in a hurry, making a checklist, first Keith's room, then try to find Pidge's, and if all else failed Lance was prepared to ask any commanding officers about Keith as long as he got the chance to talk to the Galra soldier.

Lance found Keith's room easily, and knocked on the door and waited. No response. Lance knocked again, not a sound. 

"Keith?" He called hesitantly, Lance knew that he was probably the last person that Keith wanted to see, but he couldn't help but hope. 

Nothing. 

Lance tried again, "Keith?" 

Lance nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt a tap on his shoulder, he spun around to see Pidge, looking worried. 

"Is he in there?" Pidge asked, cocking their head as if to listen for any sound inside the bunk. 

"I don't know," Lance responded, wishing that he had a key into the room. Just as he thought that Pidge pulled out a little key card, and inserted it into the slot. Pidge's only justification was a little shrug when Lance shot them a questioning look. The door slid open with a heavy clunk and Pidge and Lance rushed inside.

The room was empty. 

No, the room wasn't just empty, it was empty of everything that Keith had brought. The bed hadn't even been slept in. 

"Where did he go?" Lance squeaked, suddenly panicked. How could he have been so stupid as to ruin this? The one purely good thing he had going in his life he had fucked up and now Keith was gone, and he would never see him again, and Keith would hate him for the rest of his life. 

"He must have taken a pod back home," Pidge said, snapping Lance out his spiral.

"Back home?" Lance echoed, and now that tight feeling in his chest started to hurt. Keith had been so upset he couldn't stand to stay on the same planet as Lance. 

"Yeah," Pidge explained, "A few ships travel back and forth in between the planets during this week, he must have taken one home." 

Before Lance could respond Allura was talking in his ear, "Lance, I know you're still upset but everyone is wondering where you are? Lunch is about to start." 

"Quiznak," Lance muttered rubbing his face, "Tell everyone I'll be there soon." 

Lance turned to Pidge, "I'm sorry, I have to go."

Pidge nodded, "I'll try to send a message over to Keith, see if he has his communicators on." Pidge paused, "I just, I can't believe he didn't know." 

Lance opened his mouth, but nothing came out. 

"I should have told him from the beginning," Lance finally forced out, "But I was selfish." 

Allura chimed in again, "Lance!" She said, reminding him of the task at hand. 

Lance managed to give Pidge a wave as he sprinted down the hallways. He was late, and not dressed and not showered and not emotionally ready for a formal lunch. 

Lance slipped in, and took his seat next to his father and Allura. Allura guided him into his seat with a hand on his back and his father gave him a pleased but rather confused look. Oh yeah, another secret Lance had kept. 

The lunch passed without much trouble, light Altean delicacies were passed around a much smaller table than the first night's feast, and the conversation was more reserved. 

Lance didn't speak at all. He felt more irritated and unsettled every moment he sat. 

Alfor finally turned Lance, seemingly determined to catch his son in any conversation, it was unusually for Lance to be quiet, and silent was almost unheard of. 

"Lance," He said, gesturing his spork down the table at a random Galra, "That is Lord Uzark, he was interested if you would like to speak to him about possibly-" 

Alfor was cut off by Lance slamming his silverware on the table and rising from his seat. The rest of the table went silent, except for Allura who breathed a soft, "Lance." 

"Father," Lance said, tears already brimming in his eyes, "I'm sick and tired of you trying to pawn me off to any noble that crosses the threshold of this castle. Why am I not good enough for you?" 

Lance was seething now, tears spilling down his cheeks, and even Zarkon looked alarmed. 

"Don't try to deny it I heard you talking to Emperor Zarkon about me. I know I'm never going to be like Allura, I'm not going to be perfect but why," Lance paused to scrub the tears out of his eyes, "Why can't you just accept me? I try so hard to make you happy and proud but I just ca-" 

"Lance," His fathers voice was filled with intensity but still a quiet measured tone. He rose to face Lance, and Lance felt himself shrink. 

"Don't you ever think for one second that I'm not proud of you. You and Allura are the best children I could have ever asked for, you are more than good enough." 

Lance's face changed from cowering to a dewy hope, tears still dripping down his face. 

"You just, you don't seem happy here." Alfor said, leaning to rest his hand on Lance's shoulder, "And since you are coming of age, I figured you might want to try something different." 

Alfor made a large sweeping gesture with his hand to the lord he had pointed out earlier. "The Galra are going on a expedition to explore different planets, set up trading posts, just to see what's out there. I was talking to Emperor Zarkon because I thought you might like to join them." 

Lance sniffed, "Really?" 

Alfor immediately wrapped Lance into a bone crushing hug, "Of course, only if you want to." 

Lance suddenly felt sheepish, his father loved him, he wouldn't do that to Lance. 

"Father?" Lance said, pulling back from the embrace, "I have another thing I've kept for you." 

Alfor looked at his son inquisitively, "I met someone at the celebration," Lance said, letting out a small sad laugh. 

A few members of the table raised their cups in cheers, and Zarkon leaned over to look at Lance with interest. 

"A noble?" Someone asked eagerly, and Lance shook his head, "No, a soldier," he said with a touch of apprehension. 

Alfor smiled, "Well, where are they? Why didn't you invite them to the lunch?" 

Lance sniffed, "Can I go get him?" 

Alfor nodded, and Lance was dashing out of the room already mentally picking out which ship he was going to take, he had to grab Pidge and Hunk first, but for now Lance felt a lot lighter than he had in a long time. 

___________________

Keith had finally made it back home, he lived in a small shack not far from the military training academy. He and Shiro shared the tiny dwellings, Shiro was like a brother to him who took him in almost the moment he stepped foot into the academy, and Keith was grateful. 

He pushed the door open and set his bag down before all but collapsing into one of the chairs. He looked around the tiny home and felt a pang. Keith couldn't believe he had been so naive, people like Lance didn't like people Keith, period. Lance was outgoing and happy around people and oh yeah, a prince, and Keith was stupid enough to believe that Lance had actual interest in his life. 

Keith was startled by the first sob, it was small and broken, but he couldn't stop. 

"Keith?" 

Keith jerked his head up to see Shiro, leaning in the doorway looking at him worriedly. Keith quickly wiped his tears away, embarrassed that he had been caught crying. 

"Keith why are you home? What's wrong?" Shiro asked, crossing the room and kneeling down in front of him. 

"It's nothing," Keith said, refusing to look at Shiro. 

"It must be something," Shiro countered, "Or you wouldn't be crying." 

With that Keith sighed, and started to explain. He started from the beginning, meeting Lance and the nights of the celebration and then the kiss and finding out that he was a prince. 

"I feel stupid," Keith said, his voice cracking, "Of course he wouldn't like me."

Shiro pursed his lips, "These Core Alliance celebrations are really important to Alteans, right?" 

"Yeah," Keith didn't know where Shiro was going with this, "They go all out." 

"Well, Lance wouldn't probably waste time messing with someone if he was a prince and this was such an important thing to them." Shiro reasoned, "I don't know why he would keep that from you, but it doesn't sound like malice." 

"Oh," Keith breathed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank u for reading and sticking with this!!!!!!!! only probably one more chapter to go guys :,). all mistakes are mine :/ aLSO!!! SOMEONE MADE AMAZING FANART!!! PLEASE CHECK IT OUT ITS FOR THE LAST CHAPTER http://stuartsemple.tumblr.com/post/157880939385/stuartsemple-ham-omelet-hi-its-me-the-person


	9. The Final Countdown

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i might write an epilogue but that's still up in the air?? anyways thank you to everyone who has stuck through this with me, this was my first ever fan fiction and i think it was a success??? and finally thank you all so much for the kudos and comments and fanart this is such a supportive community and i'm glad i randomly decided to write some klance shit

Lance was nervous. He sat fidgeting on the ship that they had taken, Allura sat at the controls, she had run after him moments after he had ducked out of the lunch. Pidge was messing around with the navigational components of the ship, their little robot named Rover hovering next to them, chirping when Pidge seemed confused. Since Pidge was still in training the navigation path that they were on switched a couple times in the first few minutes of the flight, jerking them back and forth. Hunk sat in the back with Lance hunched over, citing his concern for Lance instead of the obvious motion sickness he was feeling. 

"There, there, buddy," Lance said, patting Hunk's back as Hunk clenched a hand over his mouth trying to keep his lunch down. 

Lance forgot that not everyone was as used to flying as he and Allura were. 

Lance didn't know what he was going to tell Keith, there was absolutely no way to know what Keith would think about Lance coming after him like this, but Lance wasn't ready to give Keith up after just a misunderstanding.

Well, it was a little less a misunderstanding and more of an intentional deception about a key part of Lance's life and who he was...and now Lance was starting to understand why Keith had been so angry and betrayed. At least, without any sort of explanation to accompany the confession.

Lance had started and restarted the apology in his head about a million times, nothing seemed right. He almost asked Hunk, but the other man was hunched over himself, head between his knees in a desperate attempt feel better. 

"Hunk, do you wanna lay down in the back?" Lance asked, concerned coloring his voice. When Hunk nodded vehemently, he guided Hunk to a long bench towards the back or the ship's chamber. 

Hunk groaned in relief as he laid down, but held onto Lance's arm. 

"What," Hunk gagged, "What are you going to tell Keith?"

Lance frowned, and opened his mouth but nothing came out except for an aborted start. 

"I don't know Hunk, I guess I'm just going to be honest and say what happened," Lance finally said. 

Hunk nodded and smiled, all wobbly. 

"Good," Hunk said, his voice firmer and more steady in that moment than for the last hour or so. 

Lance could only offer and nervous smile in return, saying that he was going to be honest and just tell Keith the truth was easy, but what if it didn't work? What if Keith still hated him and never wanted to see Lance again in his life? What was Lance going to do then? The most appealing answer was probably roll up in a ball and die, but Lance had a responsibility to keep living so that was off the table. Getting over Keith wasn't anymore of an appealing option, but if Keith didn't want him, Lance supposed it was the only one. 

"Lance? Come here, will you?" Allura called from the controls, and Lance gave Hunk's hand one more reassuring squeeze before heading to the front. 

"What is it? What do you need?" He asked a touch of franticness to his voice, there was a lot going on and Lance didn't really know if he could take something going wrong on this flight over. 

He was so damn close.

Allura made a gesture to the large front window of the ship and a mid sized planet sat in the middle. Pidge glanced up from the controls and seemed to brighten. 

"That's my home planet!" They said, and Rover echoed them a chirp. 

Lance's eyes widened, he hadn't expected them to get there so quickly and yet the planet was growing closer and closer with each passing second. 

"Lance I need help landing this," Allura said pointing to the panel of controls, "Hold onto the lever until I tell you to let it go." 

Lance nodded and cranked back the lever, holding it firmly in his hand. 

"Like this?" 

Allura nodded but her focus was completely centered to the other buttons and readings and levers on the panel, they had taken an older ship, something that Lance was honestly regretting now as he heard gears grind when Allura pulled a lever and then quickly released it. She muttered what Lance thought was an apology to the ship before grabbing presumably the right lever. 

The planet was getting closer and closer, the craggy surface of it now spanning the entirety of the front window, Lance held onto his lever and tried to pick out any sort of Galra-made landmarks but it was almost impossible. Still too far away. 

They were coming into the atmosphere of the planet pretty quickly, it jostled the entire ship and Lance heard an weak groan from the back, he would pity Hunk if Lance knew that they were going to survive this landing. 

"Alright Lance, let go of the lever," Allura commanded, still working with the controls with one hand but her other hand was braced to keep her up and steady. Pidge was quiet and determined on the other hand, keeping an eye on the navigation course. They seemed pleased at least, which meant this was supposed to be happening. 

"Lance! The lever!" Allura said again, and Lance immediately let go, startled out of his trance. 

The difference was immediate, the ship slowed down, and the ride got smoother. They were close enough to the surface of the planet that Pidge pointed to a massive building, and said, "That's where we're heading, Keith lives only a little while from the base." 

Lance nodded, his stomach felt like knots again, but it was too late to even consider turning back. He came here for a fucking reason.

____________________________

The talk with Shiro had helped, but now Keith was upset for a completely different reason. The way he had treated Lance, if he didn't hate Keith before for mistaking him as a servant Lance probably did now because of how Keith explicitly said "leave me alone" and fucked off from his entire planet.

The planet that Lance was in line to rule. Oh quiznak. There was still a amount of adjustment going on. 

Lance probably thought that Keith still hated him. Should he go back? Keith wondered, now pacing the length of the shack, or just forget about Lance forever? The second one wasn't an option, just because Keith had jumped to conclusions a little to quickly about Lance's intentions, didn't mean all was lost, right? Keith had no idea what to do he was used to be sure of himself, in control all the time, but he certainly didn't know the taboos of royalty or if he and Lance were behind that yet or if Lance was even still interested. 

Shiro watched bemused as Keith wore a hole down in their floor. Now that the initial concern had faded, Shiro had found a little bit of humor in the fact that Keith casually dated a prince for almost a whole week and never noticed. This type of shit would only happen to Keith. 

"Alright Keith," Shiro said getting up and guiding Keith to sit on one of the ticket seats they had in the main room. "That's enough nervous pacing for now, what are you going to do?" 

Keith looked more than a little shell shocked as he slumped down into the chair Shiro had set him on. Shiro sat adjacent to him, his elbows resting on his knees trying to stay eye-level with Keith. 

"I need to go back and see Lance," Keith said, trying to think of something but coming up empty. 

"Okay, cool, no plan," Shiro said, "Maybe we should come up with one before you hurtle yourself a couple light years away by sheer willpower." 

Keith twisted his mouth into a frown but nodded. 

"Alright there's a couple of ships that are not being used now, there's a possibility you could ask for permission to use them. Or a better idea would be to catch a ride with one of those pods," Shiro suggested. 

"That would take way too long Shiro," Keith said, "The pods only go once a day I can't let Lance think I hate him for that lon-" 

Keith was interrupted by a knock on the door, and both of their heads whipped around. 

"Who could that be?" Shiro asked, pushing himself up off the seat, but he was too late, Keith had already sprung from his own chair and raced across the room. He flung the door open, and when Keith saw what was on the other side, he breathed the name Lance.

"I came to apologize," Lance said, with tears already shining in his eyes. 

Keith backed up to allow Lance in, and Shiro watched as not only Altean royalty stepped in his and Keith's humble abode, but Pidge and two other Alteans. Keith and Lance were too wrapped up in staring at each other wide eyed, and making their way into the next room to presumably talk to make any introductions. 

The stunning Altean woman spoke first, "I'm sorry to come uninvited, but my brother had pressing concerned with your housemate. I am Princess Allura of Altea." 

Shiro immediately fell into a deep bow, "It's not a problem, princess." 

Allura flushed, and tapped Shiro's shoulder making him crane his neck to look up at her. 

"That's really not necessary," She said with a bewildered smile. "I'm here on personal matters, Allura is just fine. This is Hunk and Pidge." 

Shiro grinned and rose from his kneeled position.

____________________

Keith had lead them into what was presumably his bedroom, and they both settled onto the bed. It was similar set up to the last time they had been together expect Lance desperately hoped this time around things would be better. The room was decorated pretty sparsely, but almost everything it was well loved. 

"You came here for me," Keith finally said, all his attention focused on Lance. Lance nodded, refusing to stutter or falter, he almost lost Keith once and his nervousness was not going to get in the way. 

"I came back to apologize," Lance said, grabbing Keith's hand, and when Keith didn't recoil, he took it as a good sign. "I was selfish to not tell you who I was. I just, I wanted someone who would treat me like a normal person. People fall all over me, they agree with everything I say, and when you thought I was a servant, I saw an opportunity to meet someone on my own accord." 

Keith was frowning, but his hand held onto Lance's firmly, so Lance took it as a sign to continue. 

"And then you challenged me, and you were competitive and you were so completely different than anyone I've ever met," Lance said and he looked down almost ashamed. 

"I was afraid that if I told you I was prince I would lose that," Lance's voice was whisper soft and sad. 

"Lance," Keith said gently, but Lance's head had jerked up and he was talking again. 

"I know that doesn't justify me lying to you, and I understand if you never want to see me again. I wanted you to know why. Keith, I like you. I really, really like you." 

Every word out of Lance's mouth spilled in quick procession, he was tripping over himself to get them out, and suddenly Keith was laughing. It was a soft, happy laugh and Lance felt a little affronted that he had laid out his guts for Keith and got laughed at in return. It must have shown on his face because Keith was immediately reassuring him. 

"Lance, I like you too. I understand, and I forgive you. I'm sorry that I freaked out and left the planet when you told me," Keith said, "I was scared it was a joke to you, that I was just some random Galra you could string along." 

Lance's eyes widened, and he tackled Keith into a hug, squeezing him tight. 

"Why would you even think that? I kissed you! I spent every night narrowly avoiding my father to be with you during the most important celebration," Lance murmured, burying his face into Keith's soft neck. 

"So we're okay?" Lance asked after a moment, and Keith nodded. 

"We're fine," he said, and Lance pulled back to press a kiss to Keith's cheek. 

Keith responded with a chaste kiss on the mouth, and they grinned almost sheepishly at each other. 

"I can't believe you travelled all the way here," Keith finally said, teasingly. 

"It's not like you gave me much of a choice!" Lance shot back, pouting at him. It felt good to fall back into their now comfortable routine of poking fun at each other. 

"Oh," Lance started a little as if remembering something, "I was invited on a Galra exploration expedition, I was wondering if you maybe could come with me? If you wanted?" 

Keith looked surprised, but he nodded. "When does it leave?" 

"In a couple of weeks I think, I'm sure they would welcome you aboard!" Lance beamed at him. "I wanna get to know you better, I can't think of a better place to do it than on an adventure."

Keith nodded again, and caught Keith's lips in a kiss, that Lance hummed into. When they final both pulled back to breath, Keith tucked himself up close to Lance. 

"I want to explore the universe with you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you all:,) <3 shit has been a little hard for me and this fanfic was the distraction i needed finally all mistakes are mine because i'm shit at editing. also that was some v gentle shallura bc that's some good shit. "i want to explore the universe with you" means "i love you" in voltron


	10. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i couldn't fucking leave this alone for some reason, anyways enjoy this epilogue that's kinda boring but i felt like i left too many loose ends? idk it's not that good but it gives me peace of mind. it's really just a gentle look into life after the big ass confession. tbh i updated this fic because of the reasons above and the fact that i need som stability in my life and if i have to make it i will

There was a lot happening today, Keith thought, watching four very dedicated servants rush by him with enough food to feed at least twelve Alteans. It had been a few weeks since the Core Alliance celebrations, but the castle was already busting out its fine silver sporks and other beautiful decorations because today was Lance's coming-of-age ceremony. It was something the prince had spent weeks talking about, and planning, and maybe obsessing over just a little bit. Keith didn't exactly mind watching Lance get all worked up about his ceremony, or rant on and on about how annoying getting special robes for the occasion, it was just a relief that the day itself had arrived. 

Keith didn't know a lot about this ceremony, or really anything Altean. He was picking up some things slowly from his time at the castle, but some of the cultural references of today were lost on him. Lance was already old enough to be considering marriage, why did he need to have a ceremony to show he was an adult?Keith also didn't know the exact ratio of Altean lifespan to Galra lifespan, but what he did know was that Lance would be considered a full-fledged adult Altean after the day was done. 

This also meant that Lance was finally old enough in his people's eyes to start a formal courtship with Keith. These last few weeks that they had enjoyed together apparently wasn't considered official. Which Keith thought was stupid because he and Lance were already in a relationship, but Lance insisted it was very important to the image of royalty. Also how Keith shouldn't spit on tradition, and also how pretty Keith looked in the traditional Altean clothing he had tried on yesterday. But that was besides the point. 

The worst part was that their alone time together would be interrupted by an appointed chaperone, another thing that Keith had protested, but Lance had soothed him by reminding that there would be no chaperones on the expedition. 

Keith had been living in the royal guest rooms in preparation for their departure in a couple of weeks. Lance was more open and excitable and loud since they had come back to the castle together. It was nice, Keith wasn't exactly great at keeping a conversation alive normally, so Lance being talkative took the pressure off him. 

Keith had to admit, the more time he spent with Lance, the more confused he was about why Lance had chosen Keith of all Galra or just generally people to court. Lance had explained it to him that night when he had chased after Keith, but Keith was more than certain at least one noble wasn't in it for just the title. One thing Keith did know was to not look a gift horse in the mouth, so he wasn't going to question it anymore. 

Keith made his way leisurely to the throne room, he had been dressed up by Allura and Lance in almost agonizing detail, both had an alarmingly critical eye when it came to dressing him. They had both insisted that he be dressed in traditional Altean robes, citing how important it was that the common people like him as he and Lance would be announcing their courtship to the public. Or something like that. Keith was just trying keep track of where his normal clothes had been tossed aside. 

The throne room had been decorated, three thrones sat in the front of the room all equal in size and empty for now. Keith was hit with a strong memory of when he had first entered this room. The crush of soldiers around him, the sheer noise that echoed through the room, how he could barely see Allura standing in the forefront, how Lance had been standing a handful of yards in front of him. How different would his life be if he had seen Lance? If he was a little taller, or a little closer to the front of the crowd, when they met the first time in the hallway Keith would have dropped into a bow and nothing would have happened. 

It seemed almost miraculous that everything had worked out, looking back at it now. Soon they would be off on an expedition across the universe finding far planets and meeting new people. 

Keith's stomached lurched with anticipation whenever he thought about him and Lance bounding off to the far reaches of the universe. There would be a crew full of researchers of course, but at least he and Lance would be there together. Lance was pretty sheltered, if it was any indication from how awed he was when they were on Keith's home planet, so Keith prepared himself to at least keep an eye on Lance. He didn't not trust Lance, but foreign places could be rough to adjust to for anyone, even Keith knew he would probably be at a loss on a couple of planets. 

A few more guards filtered into the room in preparation for the flood of commoners that would be pouring in. Keith recognized Hunk, giving him an awkward little half-wave in acknowledgment, to which Hunk gave him a full force smile. Keith had gotten a loose rundown from Allura about what was going to happen, first the commoners would be let into the room, then the king, and Allura would enter, and then Lance. A speech would be done and a druid would bless Lance's official transition to adulthood. Then there would be a party. From what Keith knew from the Core Alliance Celebrations it would be more than over the top, but the ceremony itself seemed simplistic even short. 

A few Altean commoners wandered into the hall, and then a whole lot more followed. Keith stepped up the few steps that separated the platform the thrones were on from the rest of the room to prevent being swept away in the thickening crowd. A few newly arrived Altean nobles and advisors did the same. The Alteans murmured in excitement, a few eyeing Keith with a whole lot of interest. They didn't approach him, something Keith was grateful for, but having eyes on him felt weird.

They quieted quickly when Alfor entered from a side door followed closely by Allura, and Keith was once again brought back to the Core Alliance Celebrations. He felt touch of embarrassment of how he thought of how much he had misread the situation between the king and Lance. Lance had explained everything that had happened one late night that they had together camped out in Keith's guest room. It was more than a relief to know that Lance and his father were actually on good terms, with only a misunderstanding causing what had happened that night that set Lance off to begin with. 

The first few nights around the king before that conversation had been a little more than tense. 

The king nodded at Keith as he sat down in his throne, and Allura perched on the one next to him. There was a pause, and suddenly the crowd was parting to allow Lance to saunter through. The room was so long that Lance only was a tiny figure at the beginning of the journey up. Noise erupted from the Alteans, and Keith couldn't help but smile. Lance looked like he was in his element, pausing to greet his subjects every few feet on his procession towards the throne. Blue flowers were being tossed at him or tucked into his hair by the Alteans around him, so by the time he had joined his father and sister his ears and hair and robes had dozens of blooms stuffed in them. 

As Lance sat in his throne he sent a quick smile over to Keith, who stood in a loose line with the rest of the people important enough to be on the same level as the thrones. Keith barely managed a smile back. After the crowd had settled into a relative silence, Alfor stood, and began his speech. It was sort and concise, thanking them for coming, emphasizing what an amazing time it was for their people, and finally about looking to the future. Lance was suddenly standing as well, and Alfor backed down. 

Lance's face was open, and beaming framed delicately by the flowers, he looked more than happy to be there. When he began to speak Keith was dumbstruck because Lance rambled and squawked and yelped when they talked, but here he never stumbled his voice was clear and even and strong. It was weird enough that Keith looked to Allura in confusion to find her looking at him with a smirk plastered on her face. 

Obviously there were still some things about Lance that Keith didn't know. 

The speech's end was marked with a cheer from the commoners, who continued to clap and shout until the druid entered. Keith didn't understand what was going on exactly, once again his lack of knowledge failing him, but the druid and Lance joined hands. There was a small stone that they cupped protectively, and druid chanted something, and their hands glowed a radiant blue for a second before it faded. Apparently that was all that needed to happen because as soon as they were done the crowd surged, and Alfor and Allura were out of the thrones and embracing Lance. 

Keith felt confused and a little unsure. Should he join them? Probably not, right? Did he look awkward just standing there? Eventually the three broke from their tight hug and almost immediately Lance bounded over to Keith and swept him up giving him a quick squeeze before pulling back, beaming. 

"Pretty good, right?" Lance asked, trying to quell his excitement and play it cool for a moment despite acting like an excitable puppy moments before. 

Keith shrugged, playing along with his nonchalance, "It was alright, I guess." 

Lance pushed him, "Shut up, I did great."  
He motioned to the crowd who were now filtering out to the banquet hall, more people were looking at Keith now that Lance had practically tackled him. 

Keith supposed it was something he would have to get used to, at least Lance seemed to enjoy the attention. 

__________________________

 

"I'm going to kick your fucking ass!" Lance yelped, turning a quick corner and slipping across the floor and slamming into the wall before recovering enough to continue the chase. Keith smirked tauntingly at the end of that hallway, the fucker was only a few inches taller than Lance but he could hoof it like his legs were forty fucking feet long. 

Keith held Lance's circlet in his hands full out grinning baring his sharp teeth, something that Lance knew was a rare expression for him. 

"Give it back! I order you to give it back!" Lance shouted, barreling down the hallway after him. 

"You don't need it!" Keith called, "You're not prince when we get on that ship." 

By now Lance had caught up, standing only a few feet away from Keith. This had all started when Lance had finally began to pack after a week of procrastination. He had tried to put his circlet in one of his bags, but Keith had snatched it and run off, Lance hot on his tail. Lance couldn't believe the Galra was doing him dirty like this, in his own home. Keith looked happy enough, the way he had smirked when Lance scrabbled after him. 

"Okay, but," Lance said, grabbing for it in vain, "consider the fact that I want it." 

Keith continued to hold it just out of Lance's reach. Lance didn't want to admit that maybe he wasn't quite ready to give up being royalty for a few months. It wasn't any major fear, in fact he was looking forward to a change of pace, but his duties as prince were one constant in his life. 

"Keith," Lance groaned, "C'mon! I need to keep packing. Look I'm taking responsibility!" 

Keith snorted and lowered his arm a little, "You should have been packing days ago, the ship leaves in a couple hours."

Lance whined and Keith lowered his arm completely, Lance finally grabbed his circlet and placed it atop his head, "Another great reason for me to keep packing."

They both walked back to Lance's room joking the whole way down, they were both in good spirits in anticipation. Plus the fact that every for the past week had went well, the coming-of-age ceremony, the announcement of their courtship. All was well. Lance's room was usually relatively neat except for today. Clothes were strewn around everywhere, covering his bed and the floor near his dresser although the majority seemed to be haphazardly stuffed into his bag. 

Keith looked tempted to turn around and excuse himself to do his own packing after seeing what he and Lance had to clean up. 

"Keith, chill, it's not that bad," Lance said picking up a handful of discarded clothing and shoving it have into his closet, "Could you zip up my bag?" 

Keith approached the bag and zipped it, before turning to Lance. "I thought you said you still needed to pack?" 

Lance ignored his accusatory tone, "What? Who said that?" 

Keith spun around, falling for Lance's attempt to rile him up, "You did!" 

Lance shrugged smiling mischievously and, shoving more clothes into his closet, "Don't remember, never happened." 

Keith huffed, and elected to check his watch instead of dealing with Lance. Lance continued to clean up his room, debating with each piece of clothing he put away if he should bring it or not. His overstuffed bags said no, but his heart said yes. He was lucky he had enough room for his face scrub. 

"If you wanna say goodbye to Allura and Hunk and your father we should go now." Keith said picking up Lance's bag and handing it to him. Keith's own bags were already on the ship. 

Lance took his bag with a pout, "If you actually liked me you would carry this for me." 

Keith continued on, "If you were actually a servant you could carry it for yourself but here we are." 

Soon Lance was wrapped up in three separate hugs, from his father, Allura and Hunk. Hunk was barely keeping it together, trying to mask his tears by scrubbing his face continuously. Lance could barely manage a watery smile at his friend, reassuring Hunk they of course they would stay in touch the months he was gone. It was much the same with Allura, telling her that he would make sure that he had his communicator on him at all times. Saying goodbye to his father was hard, but like all the other goodbyes it wasn't actually one. More of a 'see you soon' which comforted Lance enough to break away from them and continue with Keith to the ship. 

The excitement of spending time with Keith and exploring was bubbling up in his chest as they went. It was a little scary facing something so uncertain, something so totally out of his own scope. But Keith was there, and Lance was an adult now, he could handle anything. Lance babbled on about anything, his excitement, his fear, and when they finally made it to the ship he stopped Keith and leaned up. 

"Let explore the universe," Lance said, kissing Keith, and Keith reciprocated. They would be fine. 

It was going to be a good trip.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> once again,,thanks for reading even tho i'm super fickle hit me up on tumblr at ham-omelet.tumblr.com my ask box is open

**Author's Note:**

> hope you enjoyed??? also? thanks for reading!!!!


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